FACTS FOR 
VOTERS OF 
OHIO 


“The right to vote implies 
the duty to vote right/* 





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AGNES HILTON 

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CORINNE McCLOSKEY 


PRICE. 35 CENTS 


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To 

The Ohio Woman Suffrage As¬ 
sociation and The Ohio League 
of Women Voters, whose cor¬ 
dial support and encouragement 
caused this pamphlet to be writ¬ 
ten, it is gratefully dedicated. 


Contents 


Government and Citizenship.3 

Pure Democracy—Representative Government—Civil Rights— 
Political Rights—Citizens of the U. S.—Naturalization—Citi¬ 
zenship of Married Women, Unmarried Women, Child—Bene¬ 
fits of Citizenship. 

National Government. 7 

Constitution—Congress, Its Powers, How Constituted—Sessions 
of Congress—Committees—The President—Civil Service Com¬ 
mission—The Cabinet—Vice-President—Judiciary—Salaries. 

The State of Ohio. 13 

Constitution—Amendments—General Assembly—How to 'Get 
a Law Passed—The Governor and Other Officials—Appointive 
Officers—Permanent Boards—Commissions—Licensed Boards— 


The Judiciary—Salaries. 

County Government.33 

Township Government.34 

The Government of Cities.35 

Municipal Code—Cleveland—Cincinnati—Dayton. 

Villages . 40 

Political Parties.42 

Need, Origin and History of Political Parties—Major Parties— 
Minor Parties. 

Elections.46 


Direct Primary—Election Laws—Ballots—Voting Booths— 
Initiative Referendum. 

How the Government Pays Its Bills. 52 

Direct Taxes, Indirect Taxes, Budget, State Taxes—Smith Law 
—Gardner Law. 


Questions 


59 












GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENSHIP 


“A right always includes a duty. Rights and duties are 

inseparable.” 

A DEMOCRACY is a government by the people or a 
popular government. It may have either the form of a 
PURE DEMOCRACY or of a REPRESENTATIVE GOV¬ 
ERNMENT. In a pure democracy the voters transact 
the business of government largely in person, whereas in 
a representative government or republic, the people 
choose the agents that are to govern them. The United 
States government is of the latter type but has received 
an admixture of the former, thru the initiative, referen¬ 
dum and recall laws, that have been enacted. 

The rights of the citizen may be divided into two 
classes CIVIL RIGHTS and POLITICAL RIGHTS or 
PRIVATE and PUBLIC RIGHTS. CIVIL RIGHTS are 
those which a person enjoys as a private citizen, 
as an individual. They are enjoyed under the authority 
and sanction of government, but are not related to the 
subject of government. Therefore civil rights are en¬ 
joyed by all persons born in the United States or 
naturalized and broadly speaking means the protection 
of their liberties and their properties. POLITICAL 
RIGHTS are those which belong to a citizen regarded 
as a participator in the affairs of government and may 
be called public rights of citizenship. 

As rights always include duties, it is the duty of 
those that have an active voice in the government to use 
it to the best of their ability. The causes for indif¬ 
ference to those obligations of citizenship are well ex¬ 
pressed by Chas. E. Hughes as follows:—“Optimism that 
things will not go seriously wrong; difficulty in realizing 
that government is not something apart, that it is a grand 
co-operative effort; and helplessness in the presence of 

3 


organized agencies, which seem to make ot slight con¬ 
sequence the efforts of citizens, who are not members oi 
the inner circle of power.” These real difficulties can 
only be sucessfully met by a patriotic and educated elec¬ 
torate. The conscience of the citizen must be aroused 
and his interest stimulated. The success of a democracy 
depends upon the intelligence of its people, their desire 
to return in service the benefits they have received from 
their government. Grover Cleveland nobly expressed 
this idea. “We have a right to complain of the rich, if 
after spending their lives in gathering wealth, they find 
in its possession no mandate of duty and no pleasure 
save in the inactive and sordid contemplation of their 
hord. But sordidness is not confined to these. There is 
a sordidness of education more censurable though per¬ 
haps less exposed. There are those whose success is 
made up of a vast accumulation of education, who are 
as miserly in its possession as the most avaricious among 
the rich. No one is justified in hoarding education solely 

for his selfish use.We need the educated self-made 

men for the good they may do by raising the standard 
of intelligence within their field of usefulness and we 
especially and sorely need such men abundantly dis¬ 
tributed among our people, for what they may do in 
patriotically steadying the currents of political sentiment 
and action.” 

CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES 

An AMERICAN CITIZEN is any person born in the 
United States whether of American or alien parents (ex¬ 
cepting Indians not taxed and such as have not given up 
their tribal life and their offspring); any person born in 
a foreign country, whose father is a citizen of the United 
States, provided the father has been a resident of the 
United States; and any person who has become natural¬ 
ized. 

NATURALIZATION 

Two classes of persons may become naturalized; free 
white persons and persons of African birth and descent. 


4 



Yellow races are excluded but 
United States are citizens. 


their children born in the 


The NATURALIZATION PROCESS is as follows:— 
Any time after arrival in this country an alien eighteen 
years of age or older can apply for his first paper, the 
Declaration of Intention. There is a fee of one dollar, no 
witness is required and the applicant need not speak Eng¬ 
lish to secure this first paper. This first step does not 
make the alien a citizen of the United States, he still 
remains a citizen or subject of the country from which 
he came. Nevertheless eight states in the United States 
allow an alien (who otherwise meets the requirements of 
a voter) to vote after taking this first step. Ohio is not 
one of these states. The second step cannot be taken 
until the alien has lived here continuously for five years. 
Two years must elapse between the first and second ap¬ 
plication but not more than seven. The second paper 
is called Petition for Naturalization and can be secured on . 
presentation of declaration of Intention paper and Certificate 
of Arrival. There is a fee of four dollars. The applicant 
must appear in person before court and be able to pass 
the following requirements; He must be able to speak 
the English language, to sign his own name, be of good 
character, know important facts of the United States 
government and history. The oath of allegiance is—- 
“I hereby declare on oath, that I absolutely and entirely 
renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any 
foreign prince potentate, state or sovereignty, and partic¬ 
ularly to (name of sovereign of country) of whom I here¬ 
tofore have been a subject; that I will support and 
defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of 
America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and 
that I will hear true faith and allegiance to the same.” 
Naturalization is a judicial proceeding. The courts that 
have power to naturalize are the Supreme Court of the 

District of Columbia, the United States District courts 
and all courts of record in any state or territory that 


5 


have a seal, a clerk and jurisdiction in actions at law 
and equity in which the amount in controversy is un¬ 
limited. 

A MARRIED WOMAN takes her husband’s citizen¬ 
ship, regardless of whether she meets the qualifications 
required of him as to residence, age, good character, and 
literacy. An American woman looses her citizenship 
when she marries an alien. The law that a married 
woman takes her husband’s citizenship is invariable. 
There is a movement on foot to change the laws of citizen¬ 
ship in regard to women. 

An UNMARRIED WOMAN of twenty-one and over 
attains citizenship in the same way as a man. 

A CHILD may become a citizen in two ways—by birth 
or by the naturalization of the person upon whom the 
child’s citizenship depends. 

The RENEFITS OF CITIZENSHIP are: The protec¬ 
tion of the citizen at home and abroad; a citizen is elegi- 
ble for service in the army and navy; for civil service 
positions; may pursue any lawful profession, trade or 
occupation, some of which such as law are open only to 
citizens and others such as working on public works to 
declarants; he may hold office of private trust, such as 
guardian or executor. A citizen may participate in the 
benefits of any social service laws, from some of which 
aliens are at times excluded, e. g., mother’s pension laws. 

A citizen may vote at all elections and be voted for, 
for any public office; excepting the naturalized citizen, 
who is not elegible for the presidency or vice-presidency. 

Refore an alien becomes naturalized, that is a citizen, 
he is merely a resident. There are many aliens that 
come to this country and never take out citizenship 
papers. They remain visitors so to say, get the benefits 
this country offers without meeting obligations in turn. 


6 


THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


“Politics ought to be neither distasteful or degrading and 
men who enter them for the purpose of keeping them pure 
and making them better are engaged in the highest duty.” 


The United States Government consists of three depart¬ 
ments, the legislative or law making, the executive or law 
executing and the judicial or law enforcing. All receive 

their powers from the people as expressed in the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States, which is an original feature and 
considered an improvement in the science of government. 

The CONSTITUTION w^as drawn up by representatives 
of the thirteen original colonies at a constitutional con¬ 
vention held in Philadelphia in 1787. The v r ork was a 
tremendously difficult one, because of two strong factions. 
The one led by Alexander Hamilton, desired a strong central 
government and the other led by Thomas Jefferson, wished 
to retain the supremacy of the individual state, wherever 
possible. After five months of deliberation it was adopted 
by the convention and wthin two years was ratified by the 
necessary number of states. The constitution is considered 
by eminent statesmen and v r riters as superior to every other 
written constitution. Mr. Gladstone said of it, that it wtis 
“the most wonderful work struck off at a given time by the 
brain and purpose of man.” It bears a general resemblance 
to the British constitution and is founded on it and on the 
separate state constitutions. It is not a complete scheme of 
government, as it relates only to matters deemed common 
to the whole nation, without encroaching on the rights of 
the several states. 

The constitution made the American people a Nation 
and gave them a National government with direct authority 
over its citizens. It is a system of checks and balances, 

7 


which operates so as to prevent any one of the three de¬ 
partments of the government from becoming supreme. 
The constitution can only be amended by a favorable vote 
of two-thirds in both Houses of Congress, whereupon it is 
sent to the states and must be ratified by three-fourths of 
the state legislatures to become effective. This is a difficult 
and lengthy process and the result is that only few amend¬ 
ments have been passed, eighteen in all. The first ten were 
adopted soon after the constitution was accepted and are 
really a part of it. Since then, although about 2,000 amend¬ 
ments have been presented in Congress, only nine have been 
passed. Even if the constitution has not been amended to 
any great extent, it has grown by usage and by broad inter¬ 
pretation of the judiciary. The tendency has been steadily 
to greater federal power. 

The LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT consists of Con¬ 
gress with its two branches the Senate and the House of 
Representatives. The members are chosen directly by the 
people and answerable to them alone. In these two Houses 
we have again the system of checks and balances. In the 
Senate all states, large and small, have the same representa¬ 
tion, that is two senators; while in the House the repre¬ 
sentation is based on population, exclusive of Indians not 
taxed. At first there was one representative for every 
33,000 citizens, and the total number in the House was 65; 
now there is one for every 211,877, and there are 435 mem¬ 
bers. A State, however, has at least one representative, even - 
if it has fewer citizens than the allotted number. The num¬ 
ber changes with each census. The states are divided into 
congressional districts on the representation basis. New 
York state has the largest number of representatives, 45; 
Ohio, the fourth largest, has 22. Arizona, Nevada, New 
Mexico, Wyoming and Delaware each have only one. 

A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE must be at least 25 years 
old, have been a resident of the United States for seven 
years and must be a resident of the State from which 
he is elected. He is elected by the voters of the district 


8 


lie represents for a term of two years. A SENATOR must 
be at least 30 years old, have been a resident of the United 
States for 9 years and be a resident of the state he repre¬ 
sents. He is elected by the voters of the entire state 
for a term of six years. One-third of the Senate goes out 
every two years, but the two senators from a state never 
at the same time. Both members of the Senate and House 

are re-eligible indefinitely, but senators are more frequently 
re-elected than house members. One senator, John Sher¬ 
man, of Ohio, served for a period of thirty years. 

• 

The presiding officer of the House is the Speaker, who 
is elected by the representatives from their number. His 
position is a very important one. It usually falls to a mem¬ 
ber of long standing, who has shown capacity for getting 
things done. The speaker preserves order, puts questions 
to be voted upon and decides questions of parliamentary 
law. The House has always limited debate, and each mem¬ 
ber may only once speak to a question, excepting the mem¬ 
ber who introduced the motion, who may respond to each 
member. The House meets in a large auditorium with 
gallaries for spectators. The impression created on these 
spectators is one of great confusion, disorder and lack of 
attention on the part of the members. There is more work 
for the House than it can possibly do, from five to twenty 
times as much, and therefore the system of committees 
has developed more and more. Excepting in strenuous 
times when most important questions are to be settled, the 
bulk of business is done not in the Hall of Congress but 
in committee rooms and lobbies. There are about sixty 
standing committees in the House and about seventy in 
the Senate. In selecting members of the standing com¬ 
mittees the seniority rule is observed, that is the members, 
that have served longest are placed on the most important 
committees. A majority of each committee is always of 
the political faith predominating in Congress. The mem¬ 
bers of the committees are appointed for each Congress. 

9 


Bills may be introduced by any member of either House 
and must pass them both by a majority, excepting revenue 
bills, which may only originate in the House. The Senate 

frequently increases the amount appropriated, violating 
the principle, that the burden should be laid by those who 
are nearest to the tax payers. When a bill is introduced, 
it is referred to a committee. The committee may reject 
it, or report favorably upon it, and it is then placed on the 
calendar along with one hundred or perhaps one thousand 
others. The calendar is a kind of catalogue or register ot 
bills and has been called “the cemetary of legislative hopes,” 
because many bills are never heard of again. Each bill 
has to have three readings. If passed by both Houses after 
the third reading, it goes to the President for his signature. 

The presiding officer ot the Senate is the Vice-President 
of the United States. The present character of the Senate 
is the result of a long process of evolution. There is more 
power, more dignity attached to the office of senator than 
to that of the representative and the Senate as a whole 
attracts abler men. The functions of the Senate are three. 
Together with the House it legislates; it has an executive 
capacity in confirming the appointments of the President 
and approving treaties, which must secure a two-thirds 
vote; and it sits as a court in federal impeachment cases. 
There was no limit for debate until 1917. At that time a 
cloture rule was passed. This was brought about because- 
of the filibustering or talking to delay the passage of the 
Navy Appropriation bill. The rule adopted is, that when¬ 
ever sixteen senators demand a cloture of debate, a quorum 
being present and a two-thirds vote obtained, debate for 
the measure pending shall be limited to one hour for each 
senator. 

The two Houses sitting for one session constitutes a 
CONGRESS. Congress convenes in December of the odd 
vears and lasts till March of the next odd vear. It has a 
long and a short session. The present Congress, the sixty- 

10 


sixth, ends March, 1921. Congressmen are elected bi-en- 
nially and simultaneously with the President, and also dur¬ 
ing the President’s mid-term. There is more than a year’s 
interim between the election of Congressmen and the be¬ 
ginning of their term of service. 

The EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT consists of the Presi¬ 
dent, his Secretaries and their departments, and the various 
Commissions. The President is the responsible head of 
the whole. He must be a natural born citizen at least 
thirty-five years old, and have been a resident for more than 
fourteen years in the United States. In war time, or in 
an emergency, his powers may grow to great proportions. 
The danger of his becoming too powerful is not great, as 
his term of office is short and he could at each change of 
Congress be opposed by a newly elected antagonistic House 
or Senate or both. A President is elected every leap year, 
and precedent and custom have dictated only two terms. 
The President may be impeached. Charges must be brought 
by the House of Representatives; they are tried before the 
Senate and the Chief Justice of the United States presides. 
A vote of two-thirds is necessary to convict. 

The method of electing the President is not direct but 
through an unwieldy system of presidential electors, 
which was designed originally to put the choice in the 
hands of a small body of men of weight and influence, 
themselves chosen by the people. It was hoped that the 
best citizens could be secured as electors, but the original 
plan has been lost and the whole process has been drawn 
into party politics. Washington was the only President 
who was not elected on a party basis. 

Each state has as many electors as it has representatives 
in both Houses of Congress. The electors are now merely 
machines to register the vote of the state and the entire 
electoral vote of a state goes to one candidate if the majority 
is for him. A state goes Republican or Democratic. The 

struggle is concentrated in a few doubtful states. A major- 

* 

11 


itv of llie electoral vote is needed to elect the President; 
%/ 

if it .cannot be secured the election is thrown into the House 
of Representatives and decided by States. The frequent cam¬ 
paigns for President are disturbing to the business of the 
country and are very expensive, but have the decided 
value of arousing the people’s interest in public affairs and 
intensifying their patriotism in a national crisis. 

The President’s powers are manifold. He is the Com¬ 
mander in Chief of the Army and the Navy, and issues com¬ 
missions to all officers. He is the representative of the 
nation in dealing with foreign nations and with him rests 
the initiative of making treaties with them, which are sub¬ 
ject to the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. The Presi¬ 
dent may pardon any one guilty of an offense against the 
United States, and Congress can not restrict him in this. 
The President has no legislative function, but it is his duty 
to inform Congress on the state of the Union and to rec¬ 
ommend measures for adoption. This he does in his in¬ 
augural and other addresses which are more widely printed 
in the newspapers and read by the people, than any other 
utterances of the governing bod} 7 . Washington and Adams 
appeared in person before Congress. This practice was 
discontinued by Jefferson, who had no facility in public 
speaking and preferred to send a written message. All 
Presidents after that followed Jefferson’s example until 
President Wilson went back to Washington and Adams’ 
practice. 

The only power that the President has over Congress 
is his veto power. All bills passed by Congress are sub¬ 
mitted to the President for his signature. If the President 
neither signs nor vetoes the bill within ten days it becomes 
a law. If he vetoes it, it goes back to Congress and can 
only be passed by a vote of two-thirds. In the first one 
hundred years the veto power was only used one hundred 
and thirty-five times. Some Presidents did not use it at all 
—Jefferson, Adams and Garfield; some rarely—Washing¬ 
ton and Lincoln, only twice; others frequently—Roosevelt 

12 


for instance, 42 times. The President may also call Con¬ 
gress together in extra session and he may adjourn Con¬ 
gress in case of disagreement on adjournment. 


Another great power or rather arduous duty is the ap¬ 
pointive power. The President has always had many ap¬ 
pointments to make, most of which must be confirmed by 
the Senate. As the number of government officials grew 
it was drawn into politics and more incumbents were 
changed with a change of administration. In Jackson’s 
time the slogan “to the victor belong the spoils” arose. 
The abuse became serious and in 1883 a Civil Service Act 
was passed by Congress, poviding for a CIVIL SERVICE 
COMMISSION and putting fourteen thousand offices on a 
competitive basis. Steadily this number has grown, until 
now there are almost one half million or 95% of all. The 
successful applicant is put on probation for six months, 
then the position becomes permanent. There are now 
also provisions for advancement by some system of effici¬ 
ency rating. The Civil Service Act provides that no person 
in the public service is for that reason under obligation to 
contribute to any political fund or to render political serv¬ 
ice. They shall—“while retaining the right to vote as they 
please and express privately their opinions on all political 
subjects, take no active part in political management or 
political campaigns.” However there are still too many 
appointments left to the President. The important posts 
such as members of the cabinet, the under-secretaries, 
foreign ambassadors, federal judges, should, of course, be 
appointed by the President. 

We are accustomed to speak of the President’s 
CABINET, although as a corporate body, with duties and 
powers it does not exist. It exists only by custom and 
consists of the individual heads of departments. In 1789 
there were only four—the Secretary of State, of the Treas¬ 
ury, of War and the Attorney General. To these at dif¬ 
ferent times were added the Secretary of the Navy, the 
Postmaster General, the Secretary of the Interior, of Agri- 


13 


culture, of Commerce and of Labor—making ten in all. 
They constitute the President’s advisers and aides, and their 
other specific duties are the following—to make appoint¬ 
ments in their departments, for offices that are not included 
in the civil service; to issue departmental orders; to prepare 
an annual report to Congress; to be at the service of the 
Senators and Representatives and the people for infor¬ 
mation. They also constitute the final authority in certain 
cases. The President however is the responsible head, 
while in England it is the Cabinet Minister. Washington 
regarded his four secretaries as his confidential advisers 
and used them as such on all occasions. As early as 1793 
we find the term “Cabinet.” 

The cabinet now meets regularly at stated times, fixed 
by the President, usually twice a week. The meetings are 
secret, no record is kept, votes are seldom taken and not 
binding when they are. The minutes of the cabinet meet¬ 
ings the retiring President takes with him, together with 
all correspondence, originals and copies. Interesting docu¬ 
ments are thus lost to history. It is also considered a weak¬ 
ness in the system, that cabinet officers do not appear be¬ 
fore Congress and give of their technical information. 

In case of the death of the President, the Vice-President 
succeeds him; and in case of the death of the latter the 
cabinet officers in the order of the establishment of their 
department are in line for succession. The VICE-PRESI-. 
DENT is the presiding officer of the Senate, but as he has 
no other function, great stress is not always laid on his 
choice with the result that we have had weak men placed 
into the presidential chair; Presidents Arthur and Roose¬ 
velt proving themselves exceptions. 

The Constitution gives the President wide discretionary 
and great power and there has been much diversity in the 
extent of power that the various Presidents have taken as 
their right. The elasticity of the powers of the President 
has worked out well as a whole, making it possible to get 


14 


quick action in an emergency and on the other hand safe¬ 
guarding any undue appropriation of power by the check 
Congress can exercise by with-holding appropriations. 

The third department of our government is the JUDI¬ 
CIARY. Here again we find a division of three and also 
a multiple of three. There are three courts—the District 
court, the Circuit court of Appeals and the Supreme court. 
Besides these courts there are special courts. In 1855 the 
Court of Claims was created and in 1919 the Customs 
Court of Appeals. 

In every state there is at least one DISTRICT court 
and in the larger states there are several, altogether about 
ninety. The District court is presided over by a district 
judge and has jurisdiction over admiralty and marine cases, 
copyright and patent and counterfeit cases, cases arising 
under the postal laws, immigration and naturalization cases, 
etc. 


For the second court the United States is divided into 
nine circuits, each circuit having one CIRCUIT COURT 
OF APPEALS; Ohio is the sixth circuit. This court is com¬ 
posed of regular circuit judges and of judges of the other 
courts; three judges being necessary for the trial of a case. 
Each justice of the Supreme Court is technically assigned 
to one of the nine circuits and originally held court in that 
section, but does so now only in extrordinary cases. Most 
appeals from the district court are brought to the circuit 
court of appeals, excepting certain clearly defined cases, 
that are taken directly to the supreme court. The decisions 
of the circuit court of appeals are final in certain enumer¬ 
ated cases. The cases not enumerated as final are still 
appealable to the Supreme court. 

The SUPREME COURT consists of nine justices, the 
chief justice and eight associate justices. This court holds 
regular sessions from October to July. The presence of at 
least six judges is required to try a case and the judgment 
of a majority is necessary in rendering a decision. The 


15 


supreme court has original jurisdiction in all cases affect¬ 
ing ambassadors, ministers and consuls, and in the case 
in which a state is one of the parties to a controversy. Its 
appellate jurisdiction was given above. As it is the highest 
tribunal in the United States, a decision of the supreme 
court is accepted as being the law of the land. All the 
judges of the federal courts are appointed for life or dur¬ 
ing good behavior by the President, with the consent of the 
Senate. The Supreme court is the only government body 
of the United States, whose members wear an official garb, 
while in session. 

It is a high honor to be a justice of the Supreme court 
and especially the chief justice. The constitution has be¬ 
come what it is through the interpretation of these judges. 
John Marshall was chief justice from Jefferson’s adminis¬ 
tration on for thirty-four years, and according to William 
Howard Taft “breathed into the constitution the spirit of 
nationalty and of federal supremacy so effectively, that a 
court of democrats succeeding him did not destroy his 
work. Marshall’s construction of the constitution is the 
fundamental law today, acquiesced in by all.” 

The Judges of the Supreme Court now are: Chief 
Justice, Edward D. White, Louisiana; Associates, Joseph 
McKenna, California; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Massachu¬ 
setts; William R. Day, Ohio; Willis Van Devanter, 
Wyoming; Mahlon Pitney, New Jersey; James C. Me-. 
Reynolds, Tennessee; Louis D. Brandeis, Massachusetts; 
John H. Clark, Ohio. 

The salaries of the principal officers of the federal gov¬ 
ernment are as follows: 


President . .$75,000 

Vice-President . 12,000 

Members of Cabinet.. 12,000 

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 15,000 

Associate Justice of Supreme Court. 14,500 

Judges of Circuit Courts. 7,000 

Judges of District Courts.. .. 6,000 


16 









Representatives . 7,000 

Senators . 7,000 

Ambassadors . 17,500 

Ministers .. 10,000 

Members of Interstate Commerce Commission. 10,000 

Members of Federal Trade Commission. 10,000 

Members of Federal Reserve Board. 12,000 

“Our national economic policy can best be fostered by 

taking out of the hands of the legislature functions which 
properly belong to scientific investigators.” 


17 









THE STATE OF OHIO 


“For policy one must elect and for efficiency one must 
appoint.” 

Area, 41,040 square miles, of which 300 square miles are 
water. 

Acres, 26,265,600, of which 24,105,708 acres are farm lands. 
Counties, 88. Townships, 1,345. Cities, 80. Villages, 753. 
Voting precincts, 5,882. 

Senators to United States Congress, 2. State Senators, 37. 

Representatives to United States House of Representatives, 

22 . 

State Representatives, 127. 

Legal holidays, 8. 

Seat of government, Columbus. 

* 

The scarlet carnation is the floral emblem of Ohio, selected 
in honor of President McKinley. 

The Ohio State flag is a pennant with three red and 
two white horizontal stripes, with seventeen white stars in 
a blue field, surrounding a white circle with a red center. 
The white circle suggests “Ohio,” while the seventeen stars. 
signify that Ohio was the seventeenth state admitted into 
the union. 


CONSTITUTION 

In 1788, the first settlement in the territory of which 
Ohio was a part was founded at Marietta by forty-eight 
pioneers. Washington county was the first county formed, 
and President Washington appointed General Arthur St. 
Clair, the territorial governor, which position he held for 
fifteen years, during which time he made every effort to 


IS 


obtain the 60,000 population which was necessary for ad¬ 
mission to the Union as a State. The first constitutional 
convention consisted of thirty-five members and met at 
Chillicothe, November 1, 1802. The constitution drafted 
by this convention was not submitted to the voters for 
ratification. Ohio became a state, March 1, 1803. 

The constitution of 1802 was in force until 1851 when 
a new one was adopted. Since then two efforts have been 
made to secure a thorough revision of the constitution, but 
these failed, and with the exception of certain amendments, 
the laws have remained as they were in 1851. Thirtv-four 
amendments were made in 1912 to satisfy the needs and 
demands, which have arisen through the changed condi¬ 
tions of the twentieth century. However the constitution 
provides that a convention shall be called to revise, amend 
or change the constitution, whenever two-thirds of the 
members of each House of the General Assembly think il 
necessary; they shall recommend to the electors to vote for 
or against the calling of a convention at the next general 
election for members of the General Assembly; a separate 
ballot without party designation shall be used and a major¬ 
ity vote only is required. The number of candidates for 
the convention is the same as the number of members of 
the house of representatives, and they are nominated by 
petition and voted for upon an independent and separate 
ballot without party emblem of any kind. At the general 
election to be held in 1932 and in every twentieth year 
thereafter, there shall be this question on the ballots; “Shall 
there be a convention to revise the constitution?” 

The constitution of the Slate is the supreme law within 
its borders. It cannot interfere with any power granted to 
the federal government, nor can the federal government 
act in any matter which has been left to the regulation of 
the State. 

The constitution provides for three departments of gov¬ 
ernment—legislative, executive and judicial. 


19 


LEGISLATIVE 


The legislative power of the State is vested in a General 
Assembly consisting of a Senate and a House of representa¬ 
tives; but the people reserve to themselves the power to 
propose (initiative) to the General Assembly laws and 
amendments to the constitution, and to adopt or reject 
(referendum) the same at the polls. 

In the eighty-third General Assembly in 1919, there were' 
thirty-seven senators and one hundred and twenty-five rep¬ 
resentatives. They each receive $1,000 per year salary, and 
weekly mileage to and from home, while in session. Any 
voter, unless holding another office is eligible to represent 
his district or county in the General Assembly, but he must 
have resided in the district or county one year preceding 
his election. Most of the business of the general assembly 
is transacted through committees. A bill may originate 
in either House; it is then read before the House and re¬ 
ferred to a committee; this committee buries it, if it does 
not favor, or reports out to the House, where it is read 
for the second and third time, on different days unless the 
rules are suspended, then it is voted upon by the House, and 
if the bill secure the necessary majority vote, it is then 
referred to the other House where the procedure is the 
same. If the bill passes both Houses, it is presented to the 
governor who may accept the bill by signing; or if he fails 
to sign within ten days, it automatically becomes a law; 
or he may reject the bill by veto. In that case it is sent 
back to the House where it originated, and the vetoed bill 
may become a law by a three-fifths vote of both houses. 
The presiding officer of each House signs, in the presence 
of the House over which he presides, all bills and joint reso¬ 
lutions passed by the General Assembly. The General As¬ 
sembly is not permitted to make appropriations for a period 
extending beyond two years. The Constitution requires 
biennial sessions of the General Assembly. They convene 
the first Monday of January of the even years, meeting 

20 


constantly until the latter part of April or May, when they 
recess. It the General Assembly meets upon the call of the 
governor, it is called an extraordinary session. The appor¬ 
tionment of the members is determined every ten years ac¬ 
cording to the census. 


EXECUTIVE 

The executive department of the State consists of the 
governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, 
treasurer and attorney general. 

The GOVERNOR is commander in chief of the army 
and navy of the state, and has authority to call the state 
militia into active service when occasion demands. He has 
the veto power. He may pardon all convicts except those 
convicted of treason; these may only be pardoned by the 
General Assembly. He may call the legislature into special 
session and can adjourn the same when the two houses 
fail to agree on adjournment. He is required to report to 
the legislature the condition of the State, and to submit a 
budget of state appropriations. He appoints the heads of 
all state bureaus, boards and commissions. He is a member 
of the emergency board, the board to approve plans and 
specifications, the board of control, legislative apportion¬ 
ment board and the board to canvass election returns. The 
governor issues all commissions to state officers and to 
notaries public. He has charge of the Great Seal of Ohio, 
which is an engraved stamp for making an impression on 
public documents. It is an evidence of the genuineness and 
authority of such papers. The Coat of Arms is the figure 
or device on the seal. 

The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR presides over the 
senate and in case of the death, incapacity for service, or 
absence from the state of the governor, assumes the duties 
of the chief executive. 

The SECRETARY OF STATE is elected for two years 
and is the state supervisor of elections. He has jurisdiction 


21 


iii deciding questions as to the application of the election 
laws. He is custodian of the acts of the General Assembly. 
All articles of incorporation are issued by him, and he ad¬ 
ministers many of the important laws applying to corpor¬ 
ations. He is custodian of surety bonds of state officials 

and departments. He appoints a state purchasing agent 
to purchase under competitive bidding all supplies and 
equipment for all departments of the State. He issues an¬ 
nually a volume known as “Ohio General Statistics,” cover¬ 
ing the work of every department and institution of the 
State, which is for free distribution. He appoints the regis¬ 
trars of the Ohio Automobile department, whose duty it is 
to collect all automobile fees. These receipts are used for 
the maintenance and repair of roads. 

The AUDITOR OF STATE is the only state official, 
whose term is four years. He is the chief accounting officer 
of the State and audits requisitions, vouchers and claims 
against the State, and issues warrants on the state treasurer 
for all sums allowed. Through the bureau of inspection 
and supervision of public offices he supervises and inspects 
the public transactions of every State and local office in 
Ohio. The auditor is custodian of all original land records, 
and the plans and specifications of all public buildings 
owned by the State; he is also state supervisor of school 
and ministerial lands. The auditor of state is not only a 
member of more boards than any other elective state official 
but, while the governor, attorney general and secretary of 
state may be represented by a deputy at board meetings, 
the auditor of state is required by law himself to be present. 

The TREASURER is elected for two years, and it is his 
duty to receive the public revenue of the State and pay 
the same out on warrants of the auditor of state. He also 
loans the surplus to banks under competitive bidding. 

The ATTORNEY GENERAL is elected for two years 
and is legal advisor of all state officers and departments 
and of county prosecuting attorneys. He represents the 


Slate in all civil and criminal cases in which the Slate is 


directly interested. The present system of checks between 
the various departments and the auditor and treasurer, and 
between the auditor and attorney general render misap¬ 
propriation of funds, collected hy the State, practically im¬ 
possible. 


OFFICERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR 

The ADJUTANT GENERAL holds the rank of major 
general, and has control of the state militia. He is cus¬ 
todian of all ordnance and quartermaster’s stores and mili¬ 
tary property of the State. He is also superintendent of the 
state house and grounds. 

The BUDGET COMMISSIONER prepares for the gov¬ 
ernor a budget covering all departments of state govern¬ 
ment, which the governor transmits to the General Assembly 
at the beginning of each regular session. The appropri¬ 
ations are based on this budget. 

The STATE FIRE MARSHALL is appointed for two 
years. His duty is to suppress arson, investigate fires of 
suspicious origin, prepare evidence for grand juries and 
courts, and to enforce all laws incident to arson and the 
prevention of fires. He keeps records of all fires in Ohio, 
the kind of buildings burned, together with the loss and 
the insurance. The department pursues a campaign of 
education reaching every class and element, to the end 
that careless and preventable fire loss may be eliminated. 

The INSPECTOR OF BUILDING AND LOAN BUREAU 
is appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate, 
for a term of three years. This department is charged 
with the duty of enforcing laws regulating and controling 
the operations of building and loan companies. The law 
requires that every association doing business in the State 
shall at the end of its fiscal year file with this department 
a detailed statement and report covering its business of the 
preceding year. 


23 


The SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
is appointed for four years. His chief duty is to collect and 
publish statistics of the common schools of the State. He 
appoints the state board of examiners and prepares test 
questions used in every county in the State; he visits 
teachers’ institutes throughout the State and prescribes 
the form of all school blanks and reports. His position is 
one of great honor. 

The SUPERINTENDENT OF INSURANCE is appointed 
for three years. Every insurance company doing business 
in the state must furnish this department with sworn state¬ 
ments as to liabilities and assets. The superintendent has 
authority to examine all records in insurance companies 

and can prevent those not meeting requirements of the 
law, from doing business in the state. The superintendent 
may cause the arrest of any one suspected of violating the 
laws as to insurance. 


The duties of the SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKS are 
to examine commercial banks, savings banks, safe deposit 
companies and trust companies and all other companies, 
incorporated under the laws of the State, having or receiv¬ 
ing money on deposit. No person or company is permitted 
to use the words “bank,” “banks,” or “banking,” or “trust 
company” as a name under which business is done without 
being subject to inspection by the superintendent of banks. 
National banks and building and loan companies are 
exempt from examination by this department. It will no 
doubt be a surprise to most citizens of the State to know 
that the state banks of Ohio have a greater total of re¬ 
sources than the national banks of Ohio. One important 
difference in the rights of a national and state bank is that 
the former may loan, not to exceed 10% of its capital stock 
to any one person, while state banks may loan 20 % of their 
capital and surplus. There is no restriction upon private 
banks in this particular. 


24 


PERMANENT BOARDS 

The OHIO CONTROLLING BOARD consists of the gov¬ 
ernor, auditor of state, attorney general and the chairman 
of the finance committees of the Senate and House. Under 
the budget system, where appropriations are made for 
specific purposes, money so appropriated can not be used 
for an} r other purposes, without authority from this con¬ 
trolling board. The consent of not less than four of the 
members is required for granting this authority. 

The STATE EMERGENCY BOARD consists of the 
governor, auditor of state, attorney general and the chair¬ 
man of the finance committees of both houses. The duty 
of this board is to provide emergency allowances to in¬ 
stitutions and departments to cover unavoidable expenses 
not provided for in the regular appropriations. 

The OHIO BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION consists of 
four members. It has charge of every benevolent, cor¬ 
rectional and penal institution in the state except the Xenia 
Soldiers’ and Sailors Orphans’ Home. There are twenty 
institutions under its control. The board appoints the 
chief officer of every institution, except Longview Insane 
Asylum in Hamilton county. The change from the old 
system of independent boards managing each system to 
our central board managing all, has resulted in great 
economies. 

The BOARD OF CLEMENCY, consisting of two mem¬ 
bers, has no power to grant pardons, but can simply make 
recommendations to the governor, who may approve or 
reject such recommendations. The board of clemency can¬ 
not grant a parole until the convict has served the minimum 
time prescribed by law. 

The STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE consists of 
ten members appointed by the governor for terms of six 
years. Only five may be of one party, and at least six 
must be practical farmers. They receive no compensation 

25 


but are paid traveling expenses. The office of dairy and 
food commissioner is a branch of this board. The duty 
of this branch of the board of agriculture is to enforce the 
laws against fraud, adulteration or impurities in foods and 
drugs. Inspections are made of all dairies, canning fac¬ 
tories, restaurants and other places where foods are pre¬ 
pared and sold. 

The fish and game commission is another branch of 
this board. It operates fish hatcheries and restocks lakes 
and streams with valuable fish and protects and propa¬ 
gates fish, game and birds, and has jurisdiction of fishing 
on Lake Erie within the Ohio boundary line.- The law re¬ 
quires that at least half of all money received for hunters’ 
license shall be used in the propagation of game birds and 
game animals, in restocking various parts of the state and 
in establishing game preserves. 

The board of agriculture has charge of the state fair. One 
of the board’s important duties is to prevent or check the 
spread of diseases of live stock. The department is re¬ 
quired to inspect and analyze feeds, fertilizers and agricul¬ 
tural lime. 

The secretary of agriculture, dean of the college of 
agriculture of Ohio State University, and the director of 
the Ohio agricultural experiment station, with the governor 
as ex-officio member, comprise the state agricultural ad¬ 
visory board, and have power to co-ordinate the work of 
the various departments and prevent duplication. 

The AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION is un¬ 
der the supervision and direction of a board of five mem¬ 
bers appointed by the governor for five years. They receive 
no compensation, but their expenses are paid by the State. 
The experiment station is on a tract of 475 acres near 
Wooster, owned by the State, and the State has 225 acres 
additional under lease. There are four district experiment 
farms, three of which, 53 acres in Montgomery county, 
300 acres in Meigs county, and 125 acres in Cuyahoga 

26 


county are owned by the state, while the fourth, 20 acres 
in Hancock county, is under lease. The station holds two 
state forests, one of 221V 2 acres in Athens county, and 
one of 1,500 acres in Lawrence county. On these forests 
140,000 trees have been planted, and forest nurseries have 
been established, containing 150,000 trees for future plant¬ 
ing. It also operates nine county experiment farms. The 
United States government now contributes $30,000 yearly 
to the station and sends an examiner to inspect its work. 

The STATE BOARD OF HEALTH consists of a public 
health council and a commissioner of health. The council 
appoints the commissioner. He exercises all the powers 
and performs all the duties of the state board of health. 
The four members of the council are appointed for four 
years each, and are required to meet at least four times a 
year. The duties of this board are to examine the sanitary 
conditions of all public institutions and school buildings, 
inspect water supplies of cities and towns, and enforce 
regulations to check epidemics and contagious diseases. 
The chief purpose of this department is to preserve the 
health of the state. 


STATE AID FOR SCHOOLS FOR DEAF, CRIPPLED AND 

BLIND CHILDREN 

In 1913 a law was passed authorizing any board of 
education to make application to the state superintendent 
of public instruction for permission to establish a school 
for deaf, crippled and blind persons; the school is required 
to have an average attendance of not less than three pupils. 
The deaf must be over three, crippled over four and blind 
over five years of age. The state pays $150 for each deaf 
or crippled pupil in school for nine months, and $250 for 
each blind pupil. Schools are conducted in Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton, Ashtabula, Elyria, 
Canton, Alliance, Lorain and Mansfield. 

27 


The STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION consists of six 
members, whose duty it is to co-operate with the national 
government and to secure aid for vocational training, edu¬ 
cation in agriculture and the trades, and industries and 
home economics. 

COMMISSIONS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR 

The STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT is one of the 
most important departments of the state government. 
There are 83,700 miles of road in Ohio, of which but a 
small part is improved. The state highway commission 
has supervision of all road construction where state aid is 
given. The receipts from automobile registrations are re¬ 
quired by law to be used exclusively for the maintenance 
and repair of roads heretofore constructed. 

The OHIO STATE TAX COMMISSION consists of three 
members appointed for terms of six years. It is the duty 
of this commission to assess for taxation all railroads, ex¬ 
press, telephone, telegraph, gas, electric light, street rail¬ 
way, interruban, waterworks and pipe line companies, and 
other public utilities, and to direct and supervise the ap¬ 
praisement of all real and personal property in the state. 
These appraisements may be made annually. 

The PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION consists of 
three members. The commission has extensive police regu¬ 
lations for the safety and security of the public; can pre¬ 
vent the improper issue of securities by railroads and pub¬ 
lic utilities, and is authorized to decide disputes as to rates 
established. Complaints are submitted to the commission 
and they endeavor to adjust informally, as many complaints 
as possible. A special assessment of $75,000 is levied an¬ 
nually against the railroads and utilities for maintenance 
of this commission. 


% 


28 


The OHIO INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION directs the 
work of the commissioner of labor statistics, inspector of 
mines, inspector of workshops and factories, examiner of 
steam engines, board of boiler rules and slate board of 
arbitration; but the most important duty of this commis¬ 
sion is the collecting of premiums from employers of labor, 
and the establishing of an insurance fund for the benefit 
of injured or the heirs of those killed*. This commission 
has complete charge of the awarding of all damages. All 
other state activities, except the common school system, are 
insignificant in comparison to the system of government 
controlled insurance for the vast army of workers, who are 
employed in our various industries. There are approxi¬ 
mately 23,000 firms and persons employing labor, carrying 
state insurance on their employes. The number of em¬ 
ployes protected by state insurance is approximately 
1 , 200 , 000 . 

The CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION consists of two 
members. The chief duties are to enforce the civil service 
amendment. All employes of the state, counties, cities and 
city school districts are required to take the civil service 
examination, and these examinations, except for city em¬ 
ployes, are conducted by this commission. There are 8,000 
state employes under civil service. 

The COMMISSION FOR THE RLIND consists of the 
superintendent of the state school for the blind, and five 
members appointed by the governor, who hold office for 
five vears each. This commission is a bureau of infor- 
mation, the object of which is to assist the blind in finding 
employment, and to teach them industries which may be 
followed in their homes. The commission is required to 
prepare a list of all the blind in the State, showing cause, 

29 


condition, and capacity for educational and industrial train¬ 
ing. The commission may establish work-shops, and em¬ 
ploy and pay blind employes and sell their products. There 
are about 4,500 blind persons in Ohio, as shown by the 
records and estimates of the commission. 


The PRINTING COMMISSION consists of the secretary 
of state, auditor and attorney general. The commission is 
authorized to purchase by competitive bidding all paper 
for the use of state offices and departments, for printing 
blanks, reports and other purposes. 


LICENSING BOARDS 

The OHIO DENTAL BOARD consists of five members 
whose duties are to see that every one taking an examin¬ 
ation for a state certificate in dentistry be a graduate of a 
reputable dental college, and to require a registration to 
prevent the practice of dentistry in Ohio by persons with¬ 
out authority. 

The STATE EMBALMING BOARD consists of three 
regular practicing embalmers. No person in Ohio is per¬ 
mitted to embalm or prepare a body for burial who is not 
licensed by this board. For this license the applicant is 
required to have at least two years of practical experience 
or have taken at least a twenty-six weeks’ course in em¬ 
balming in a school recognized by the board. There arc ' 
two such schools in Ohio, one in Cincinnati and one in 
Columbus. 

The OHIO STATE MEDICAL BOARD consists of seven 
members, appointed for seven years. All persons to legally 
practice medicine, surgery, midwifery, osteopathy, or a 
limited branch of medicine or surgery must first receive a 
certificate from this board. 

The OHIO BOARD OF PHARMACY of five members 
is appointed for a term of five years. Applications for 
certificates as pharmacists must have had at least two years 

30 


of high school, be graduates from a recognized college 
of pharmacy, have had two years of practical experience 
in a drug store, and be twenty-one years old. The examin¬ 
ation fee is ten dollars and certificates are granted for three 
years. 


JUDICIAL 

The judicial power of the State is vested in the follow¬ 
ing courts: 

SUPREME COURT composed of a chief justice and six 
associate judges. They are each elected for six years. This 
is the court of last resort in the State and there are no 
trials by jury. A majority is necessary to constitute a 
quorum or pronounce a decision. At least one term of 
court is held each year at Columbus. 

The State is divided into eight appellate districts, in 
each of which is a COURT OF APPEALS, consisting of 

three judges. The term of office is six years. The chief 

% 

justice of the Supreme Court may assign any judge of the 
Court of Appeals to any county to hold court. 

A COMMON PLEAS COURT in every county having at 
least one common pleas judge; there are 127 common pleas 
judges in the State, and the term of office is six years. 

A PROBATE COURT in each county, which is a court 
of record and open at all times. Probate court judges hold 
office for four years. 

A SUPERIOR COURT of three judges, elected for six 
years, which has the same jurisdiction as the Court of 
Common Pleas. The Superior court does not try criminal 
cases, and holds court in Cincinnati. 


31 


The salaries of the principal officers of the State of 


Ohio are as follows: 

Governor .$10,000 

Secretary of State. 6,500 

Treasurer . 6,500 

Auditor . 6,500 

Attorney General . 6,500 

Adjutant General. 6,000 

Budget Commissioner . 4,000 

State Fire Marshall. 4,500 

Inspector of Building and Loan Bureau. 3,600 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. 4,000 

Superintendent of Insurance. 4,500 

Superintendent of Banks. 5,000 

Public Utilities Commissioner. 4,500 

Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Ohio. 7,000 

Associate Judge of Supreme Court. 6,500 

Judge of Court of Appeals. 6,000 

Judge of Superior Court. 6,000 


“Nothing can make good citizenship in men who have not 
got in them courage, hardihood, decency, sanity, the spirit 
of truth telling and truth seeking.” 


32 



















COUNTY GOVERNMENT 


The first object of the citizen of a free community should 
to understand its life intimately; its varied social and 
political aspects, the course of its activity, the character of 
the men, who are prominent in its affairs and the nature and 
aims of its influential organizations.” 

The State of Ohio is divided into eighty-eight counties, 
ten of which were formed before the State was admitted to 
the Union. A county is one of the civil divisions of a State, 
for judicial, administrative and political purposes. Counties 
are created by the sovereign power of the State: “No new 
county shall contain less than 400 square miles, nor shall 
any county be reduced below that amount.” But a county 
of 100,000 or more inhabitants may be divided, if each 
division contains 20,000 or more inhabitants. The General 
Assembly has power to create new counties, but the matter 
must be submitted to a vote in all the counties affected by 
the change. By far the greater number of counties are 
exclusively rural in character. Every county has a county 
seat where the courts are held, and most of the county 
officers have their offices in the court house. The powers 
and functions of the county officers, in the main are con¬ 
ferred by acts of tbe state legislature. Above all the county 
is a district for the administration of justice. Courts of 
general civil and criminal jurisdiction are held at frequent 
intervals in every county. The county is of considerable 
importance in financial administration, as it has power to 
levy taxes for its own use. The county is important as an 
election unit for canvassing the returns for state officers, 
and is the district for electing members of the state 
legislature. 

There is no general authority to enact laws or ordi¬ 
nances vested in any county official, but power to enact 
police regulation is provided. 

33 


In every county in Ohio there is a county board of com¬ 
missioners, which levies taxes and determines matters of 
local administrative policy. This board is sometimes re¬ 
ferred to as the legislative branch of the county govern¬ 
ment, but the legislative functions are narrowly restricted, 
while the board is also an executive authority in many 
matters. The commissioners lay out, alter and discontinue 
highways within the. county and erect and keep in repair 
county buildings. 

The other county officers are the prosecuting attorney, 
who is the legal authority for the county officers and con¬ 
ducts all suits in civil and criminal, in which the countv is 
interested; the treasurer, who collects all taxes and other 
county funds, and pays out funds on warrant of the auditor; 
the coroner who investigates all deaths of a suspicious or 
violent nature; the sheriff who maintains law and order; 
the auditor who examines the funds of the treasury and 
issues warrants for the payment of county debts; the 
recorder of deeds and the probate judge. 

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 

Townships may be created by the county commissioners 
when petitioned for by a majority of the householders in 
the township affected. No township shall be created with 
less than 22 square miles, nor shall any township be re¬ 
duced below that size unless it contains a city or village 
corporation. Every township is divided into 36 sections. 

The officers of a township are the trustees whose main 
duty is to see to the poor of the township and place the 
needy ones into county homes. 

“The human race is divided into two classes—those who 
go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and in¬ 
quire why it was done in that way instead of another.” 


M 


THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 


“Why don’t they keep the streets a little cleaner? 

You ask with deep annoyance, not undue; 

Why don’t they keep the parks a little greener? 

Did you ever stop to think that THEY means YOU? 

There was a special session of the General Assembly 
called in 1912 to pass general laws for city and village 
government, applicable to all municipalities of the State. 
At this session all municipalities were divided into two 
classes, cities and villages, and a population of 5,000 made 
the dividing line. Municipalities have all the powers of 
local self-government, except where they conflict with the 
general laws of the State, and may frame and adopt their 
own charter by majority vote of the electors. Three large 
cities of Ohio have adopted Home Rule since 1912, Cincin¬ 
nati, Cleveland and Dayton. 

All cities of Ohio must choose between the alternative 
of either adopting a charter framed with reference to the 
peculiar needs of the particular city, or be governed by the 
municipal code framed by the General Assembly, which 
gives to the state legislature governing power over cities. 

Ohio has eighty communities with a population exceed¬ 
ing 5,000; over half the population of the State is in these 
eighty cities. Of these five have over 100,000 inhabitants; 
three from 50,000 to 100,000; six from 25,000 to 50,000 
twenty-three from 10,000 to 25,000, and forty-five from 
5,000 to 10,000. 


CLEVELAND 

The Cleveland Home Rule Charter provides for a coun¬ 
cil of twenty-six members elected from wards for a term 
of two years. The mayor and heads of departments have 
seats in the council with the right to take part in discus- 


35 


sions, but without the power to vote. The council’s func¬ 
tions are limited to legislation. 

INITIATIVE. A proposed ordinance may he placed be¬ 
fore the council by an initiative petition signed by 5,000 
electors. If not passed by the council, it must he submitted 
to the voters at the next regular election, or an additional 
petition containing the signatures of 5,000 additional elec¬ 
tors will compel its submission to a vote of the people at a 
special election. If a majority of those voting thereon vote 
in favor of the proposal it becomes an ordinance. 

REFERENDUM. A petition of ten per cent of the 
total vote at the last municipal election will compel the 
submission of an ordinance to a vote of the people. 

The mayor is elected for a term of two years. Respon¬ 
sibility is definitely fixed on him for the proper adminis¬ 
tration of the affairs of the city; he appoints the directors 
of the following departments—department of law, of pub¬ 
lic service, public welfare, public safety, finance and public 
utilities. 

By the charter PARTY PRIMARIES ARE ELIMI¬ 
NATED. Candidates are nominated by petition only. NO 
PARTY DESIGNATIONS appear on any ballot/ The 
PREFERENTIAL SYSTEM of voting is established. The 
SHORT BALLOT is used; the voter called upon to express 
his choice of only two officials—the mayor and a member ' 
of the council from his ward. Elective officers are subject 
to recall upon petition signed by 15,000 electors in case of 
officials elected at large, and 600 electors in case of officials 
elected from wards. 

The DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE. The accounting 
and auditing provisions are patterned after the best modern 
business practices. All of the financial affairs of the city 
are consolidated in one department under the director of 
finance. Principles of accounting are laid down and the 
duty imposed on the director to establish accounting pro- 

36 


cedures for all administrative departments in conformity 
with these principles. 

The DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE was es¬ 
tablished to recognize the fact that “people” are as import¬ 
ant as “things,” that a community must develop and care 
for the welfare of its citizenship fully as much as it does 
lor its property and material welfare. Health, charities and 
corrections, recreation and employment are gathered into 
this department and their work correlated. Some general 
principles established by the charter are—no exclusive 
grants permitted, simplified election system by which free¬ 
dom is granted and guaranteed to the voter in the choice 
of candidates for public otlice, the merit system in appoint¬ 
ments to public office and full publicity of official records. 

CINCINNATI 

“If our government is to endure, if our country is to 
prosper, the man of the future must live not for himself 
alone but for others.” 

The charter adopted by the city of Cincinati reserves 
for itself all powers of local self-government and Home 
Rule possible for a city to have under the constitution of 
the State of Ohio. The legislative power is vested in a 
council of thirty-two members, one elected from each 
ward for two years, and six elected at large for two years; 
this council passes all ordinances for the government of the 
city; fixes tax levies; makes all appropriations, and ap¬ 
proves or rejects the mayor’s budget. The vice-mayor is 
president of council. 

The EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT consists of the 
mayor, vice-mayor, and auditor, each elected for a term 
of four years. The duties of the mayor are to see that the 
laws are enforced; to prepare the annual budget and 
through his annual message show to council and the city 
the needs of the city as he sees them, urging council to 
take appropriate action to meet them. His appointive 

37 


power is great thereby practically centralizing the re¬ 
sponsibility. He appoints the treasurer and solicitor; the 
directors of public service and public safety; also the trus¬ 
tees of the Cincinnati University, the sinking fund, the 
board of health, the park commission, and board of rapid 
transit. 

The MAYOR together with the directors of public safe¬ 
ty and public service form the Board of Control, and all 
the machinery of the city departments are under supervis¬ 
ion and control of this board. The mayor’s salary is 
.$10,000 per year. 

The JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT consists of five munici¬ 
pal court judges who have power to pass upon cases up to 
the amount of $600. 

Cincinnati is the only city in the world that owns a 
large railroad system. This is called the Cincinnati 
Southern Railroad Company. It is leased to the Southern 
Railway Company; and a board of trustees, appointed by 
the superior court of Cincinnati, invests the income, and 
takes charge of the issuance of bonds. This railroad is 
three-hundred and thirty-eight miles long. 

DAYTON 

“New times demand new measures and new men; 

The world advances, and in time outgrows 
The laws that in our father’s day were best; 

And doubtless, after us, some purer scheme 
Will be shaped out by wiser men than we 
Made wiser by the steady growth of men.” 

The Home Rule charter of Dayton, provides for the 
CITY MANAGER plan of administration. The chief pro¬ 
visions are: 

The CITY COUNCIL or COMMISSION. All municipal 
powers, except those relating to the management of the 
schools and public library, are vested in a commission or 
small city council made up of five members elected at 

38 • 


large ior a four year term. An election takes place every 
second year and either two or three members are chosen 
at each election. Nominations are made at a non-parti¬ 
san primary, and the ballots bear no party designations. 
The candidate who receives the highest vote in the elec¬ 
tion at which three commissioners are chosen is given the 
title of mayor, but he has no special functions except that 
of presiding at meetings of the commission. His salary is 
$1,800 annually, while his four colleagues receive $1,200 
each. 

Any member of the commission after he has served six 
months is subject to recall. Petitions for recall must be 
signed by at least twenty-five per cent of the voters. 

The commission by majority vote enacts the municipal 
ordinances and has a general control over the city’s 
finances. It also appoints the city manager, but it has no 
authority in regard to subordinate appointments nor may 
it interfere directly with the details of departmental ad¬ 
ministration. The council appoints its own clerk, who 
serves also as city clerk, and it appoints the civil service 
board. 

The CITY MANAGER. The entire control and super¬ 
vision of the administrative functions are vested in a city 
manager. The city manager is appointed for no definite 
term, and holds office at the will of the commission and 
may be removed by a majority vote of that body at any 
time. He is also subject to recall by the voters in the 
usual way. The charter provides that the city manager 
“shall be appointed without regard for his political beliefs, 
and may or may not be a resident of Dayton when ap¬ 
pointed.” 

The powers of the city manager are:—to attend all 
meetings of the commission in an advisory capacity, with 
the right to take part in the discussions but without the 
right to vote on any matter; he may recommend to the 
committee any measures he may think expedient, and 
must keep it fully informed as to the financial needs and 

39 


conditions of the city; but he has no power to raise or to 
appropriate money for any purpose. The city manager is 
instructed by the charter “to see that the laws and ordi¬ 
nances are enforced.” This makes him in law as well as 
in fact the real executive head of the city. He is given the 
power to appoint and remove all the heads of the city de¬ 
partments and all subordinate officials. He is given the 
right to exercise control over all the city departments. He 
keeps the departments in close touch with one another, ad¬ 
justs and plans their chief work, settles differences that may 
arise among them and acts as general supervisor of them 
all. The salary of the city manager is $12,500. 

The Dayton charter organizes the city’s administrative 
work into five departments, all directly responsible to the 
city manager and to no one else. (1) The law department 
with the city attorney at its head; (2) the department of 
finance under a director of finance; (3) the department of 
public safety (police, fire protection, the sealing of weights 
and measures, and inspection of buildings); (4) the de¬ 
partment of public service (engineering, streets, water, 
and public lands and buildings); (5) the department of 
nubile welfare (health, recreation, parks and playgrounds, 
legal aid correction and the local employment agency). 

Springfield, Sandusky, and Ashtabula also have the 
city manager plan of administration. 

VILLAGES 

Villages may be incorporated either by the county 
commissioners or the township trustees, when petitions 
are presented asking for incorporation. If the petitions 
are presented to the trustees, they must submit the pro¬ 
position to a vote. If the petition of thirty electors or 
more is presented to the county commissioners, they may 
grant it without a vote; the commissioners may be en¬ 
joined from granting the incorporation, but when such in¬ 
junction proceedings are heard in court, the court may 

40 


approve the act of the board of commissioners without 
permitting a vote. The large villages have a town council 
of five or seven members whose duties are of a legislative 
type; a mayor, the executive; a town marshall whose duty 
is to protect life and property. The small villages are 
supervised by the county officers and it is to them the 
people appeal for protection and legal advice. 

“The people of a village who are content with stupid 
or ignorant rule may not with complacency complain if 
the affairs of the nation are not managed to their liking.” 


4 \ 


POLITICAL PARTIES, ELECTIONS 


“What we need is not less politics but more attention to 
politics. Politics is the science of government and what we 
need is more attention to the science of government.” 

POLITICAL PARTIES were not originally contem¬ 
plated as a part of the government machinery, but un¬ 
wittingly the system constructed by the framers of the 
constitution made parties necessary. Differences of 
opinion on national issues and the selection and pre¬ 
sentation of candidates for offices caused groups to form, 
which grew into political parlies. The fact of main sig¬ 
nificance is not that we have parties, but that the tendency 
has been so marked to the establishment and mainte¬ 
nance of only two great parties at a time. It was natural 
to suppose, that the large variety of interests would be 
presented by numerous and changing groups. There are 
several reasons why this is not the case. In the first 
place a great party must have its birth and growth and 
strength thru political convictions, that are strongly felt 
throughout the United States and are not only of sec¬ 
tional interest; in the second place, the trouble to found 
a great party is tremendous, and, therefore, indepen¬ 
dents, who usually are not trained politicians recoil from 
the task and instead aim to create a sentiment, which 
will influence one or the other party. The minor parties 
act in this way and function similarly to a Greek chorus 
in admonishing and criticising. They usually adhere 
tenaciously to some principle, without hope of temporary 
success, but with confidence in the unknown future. 


42 


Thru the platforms of the great parties ideas and is¬ 
sues are expressed and presented to the public. The dis¬ 
advantages of having only two large parties are—that 
the people become accustomed to regard public ques¬ 
tions thru partisan consideration, that issues are difficult 
to present excepting thru party politics and that the sys¬ 
tem gives opportunity for corruption. 

Washington was the only president not elected on a party 
basis. During his administration two strong factions de¬ 
veloped into the FEDERALIST and ANTI-FEDERALIST 
party. The Federalists stood for a strong central gov- 
eminent, while the Anti-Federalists stood for the greatest 

power for the individual states. This issue has been the 
fundamental principle of the two great parties, which 

under varying names have existed and are now called 
REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS. Linked with this 
idea is the one of the tariff. The Anti-Federals, subse¬ 
quently called Democrat-Republicans and finally Demo¬ 
crats, not wishing the federal government to function 
largely, did not need much revenue and were opposed 
to a protective tariff, while the Federalists, their quasi 
successors the Whigs and later Republicans stood for a 
high tariff. 

From Jefferson’s administration on till the Civil War the 
Democrat-Republicans and Democrats were in power, 
with the exceptions of the Whig administration of Wm. 
Henry Harrison and that of Zachary Taylor, but since 
the Civil War the Republicans have been in power, with 
the exceptions of Grover Cleveland’s two terms and 

Woodrow Wilson’s two terms. The election of these two 
democratic Presidents was occasioned by a split in the 
Republican ranks, but in neither case did the new party 
acquire permanency. 


ft 


Besides these two principal parties there have been a 
great number of minor parties. The two most important 
ones at present are the Prohibition and the Socialist 
Party. The PROHIBITION party is the longest-lived 
minority party in the history of our country and has ex¬ 
isted for nearly fifty years. The SOCIALIST party has 
existed since 1900 and advocates government ownership 
of land, railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, mines and 
all vital industries. It has become largely the party of 
the industrial workers. 

In order to function the National Parties must have 
large and powerful organizations. They are organized 
for national state and local campaigns and require an 
army of party workers. The great work is the nomi¬ 
nation and election of a President every four years. The 
National committee of each party has charge of this. It 
is composed of one member from each state. The Presi¬ 
dential and Vice-Presidential candidate of each party is 
chosen at a convention held some months before the elec¬ 
tion, usually in June or July. Each state is entitled to 
double its number of United States senators and repre¬ 
sentatives as delegates. In addition there is an equal 
number of alternates. Usually there are about ten thous¬ 
and spectators. In a democratic convention the success¬ 
ful nominee must have two-thirds of the votes, while in 
a republican convention only a majority vote is needed. 
It may take many ballots until a candidate secures the 
needed number of votes; at the democratic convention in 
1912 it took forty-six, and in 1920 it took forty-four. The 
purpose of the convention is three-fold. It formulates 
the principles of the party platform, nominates candi¬ 
dates for President and Vice-President and organizes a 

44 


new national committee, charged with carrying on the 
campaign and acting for the party for the next four years. 

After the candidates are nominated the campaign for 
the election begins. The expense of these campaigns is 
enormous. The treasurer of a political party takes a 
prominent place by the side of the chairman. It is his 
business to discover ways of raising the money needed. 
When large business interests are liable to be affected by 
the outcome of the election, he can appeal with special 
force to those whose fortunes are linked to the fate of 
the party. These demands for large contributions lead 
necessarily to corruption which brought this counter 
movement; in 1908 publicity of campaign contributions 
and expenditures was demanded, together with rules re¬ 
stricting contributions from corporations to less than 
$10,000. (for election of President see under National Gov¬ 
ernment) 

As there is a national committee, which operates in 
national affairs, so there is a state, a county and a city 
committee. In fact there is a network of committees 
which covers the whole territory and manages the ordi¬ 
nary business, raises and applies funds for election pur¬ 
poses, organizes meetings, disseminates political tracts 
and other information and looks after the press. These 
committees are permanent and are appointed annually. 
There are also temporary committees. 

Offices for state, county and city are still contested on 
a party basis. In Ohio the candidates are charged up 
with the election expenses to the extent of one half of 
one per cent of their salary, but the amount may not ex¬ 
ceed $25. Good men are frequently kept out because of 

45 


short terms and uncertainty of tenure of office and be¬ 
cause there are more easy and attractive openings to 
other careers. Mr. Bryce in comparing politics in Eng¬ 
land and the United States says “In America politics is 
less interesting and leads to less, and business more in¬ 
teresting and leads to more”. 

There was a period when municipal administration 
had become more corrupt than any other, when the 
“boss” system ran riot, so that it seemed, that our munici¬ 
pal government was a distinct failure. Since that time 
however, as it always happens when abuses become too 
great, reforms have been brought about. The most im¬ 
portant step in this reform has been the recognition of 
the parties by law and their placement on a semi-official 
basis. This is the work of this generation, for previous¬ 
ly the power behind the government had no legal recog¬ 
nition. It has taken the form of control of the nomi¬ 
nations of party candidates and supervision of campaigns. 
The CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT is one of these forms of 
legislation and seeks to regulate by the state the raising 
and expenditure of campaign funds, so that they shall not 
be obtained by force or fraud or used for bribery. Another 
innovation is the direct primary. 

Candidates are selected at committee meetings, con¬ 
ventions and by petitions. Their names are presented to 
the voter at the DIRECT PRIMARY. The direct primary 
was adopted to give the power of nominating candidates 
direct to the people. Under the convention system it was 
controlled by the politicians. The primaries are con¬ 
ducted and paid for by the state. They are run on party 
lines, with separate ballots, poll-books, tally-sheets and 


ballot boxes for each party. In Ohio only those that en¬ 
roll themselves as members of a party are permitted to 
vote. A voter who wishes to vote at the primary with 
another party than the one he enrolled with for the general 
election in the even numbered years can be challenged 
and fined. There is a blank space on the primary ballot 
into which the voter may write his choice of a candidate. 

Primaries for the general November elections occur on 
the second Tuesday in August annually and for choice of 
Presidential electors to the national conventions quadren¬ 
nially on the last Tuesday in April. The objections to the 
direct primaries are that few voters take the trouble to 
vote, that the choice of candidates is very limited and is 
still controlled by party leaders and that the primaries 
come before interest has been aroused by circularizing 
and newspaper publicity. 

After the candidates have been nominated, they are 
presented to the voters at the regular election, which oc¬ 
curs in November on the Tuesday after the first Monday. 
Polls or open from 5:30 A. M. to 5:30 P. M. From noon 
to 5:30, is declared a legal half holiday. The candidates 
voted for in the even years are beginning 1912 and every 
four years thereafter, 24 Presidential electors; beginning 
1914 and 1916 and every six years thereafter respectively, 
a United States Senator; a representative to the United 
States house of representatives from each Congressional dis¬ 
trict; Judges of Court of Appeals; and State and county offi¬ 
cers. Those voted for in the odd years are township officers, 
justices of the peace; all elective municipal officers; 
judges and clerks of police courts; assessors in munici¬ 
palities; and members of boards of education. For the 

47 


election of these various officers, the state is divided into 
political sub-divisions or units of representation. 

Each state makes its own election laws. In Ohio, voters 
in cities of over 100,000 must register annually; in cities of 
from 11,800 to 100,000 quadrennially. Annual registra¬ 
tion is a very costly affair. There are states that do not 
have it where registrations are perpetual and changes 
made only on removal and by adding the names of new 
voters. The law of Ohio provides for four registration 
days before the November election, on Thursday the fourth 
and fifth week before election and on Friday and Satur¬ 
day the third week before election. The hours are from 
eight to two and from four to nine. Registration is the 
detailed official record and identification of each vote. In 
registering a person gives his name, residence, states 
whether native or naturalized, married or single, and signs 
a duplicate register. 

Each county that contains a city wherein annual reg¬ 
istration is required shall have a board of deputy state 
supervisors and inspectors of elections of four, who shall 
be qualified electors of the county. The officers shall be 
evenly divided among the two political parties, having cast 
the largest vote at the preceding election for governor 
and shall have permanent quarters, with a clerk in charge. 
For election purposes the county is divided into wards and 
precincts and each precinct has a voting place. Precincts 
should be so arranged as to have as near as possible 
two-hundred and fifty voters. These should be re-ar¬ 
ranged from time to time, so as to retain approximately 
that number. When the number grows to five hundred 
voters the precinct should be divided; if it drops below 

48 


two hundred it should be enlarged, but this is not always 
done. 

Voters must have resided one year in Ohio, thirty days 
in the county and in the case of persons not married 
twenty days in the township, village, or ward of a city, and 
be at least twenty-one years of age. The Presidential 
elections bring out the greatest number of voters. It is 
about eighty per cent which is considered a good propor¬ 
tion. 

Reforms have also been brought about so as to make 
some of the old abuses of repeaters and ballot stuffing 
impossible. The ballot boxes are examined before the 
election begins and there are challengers stationed at the 
polling places, so that any doubtful person can be investi¬ 
gated. The AUSTRALIAN RALLOT was first used in 
Ohio in 1891. On this ballot the names of candidates of 
every party are arranged in separate colomns, with the 
party device and a circle heading every column. The 
parties are arranged according to the greatest number of 
votes cast at the preceding election for governor. Each 
candidate is voted for by making a mark (X) in the voting 
square at the left of his name, or if all candidates of one 
party are to be voted for an (X) may be placed in the circle 
at the head of the ballot. The ballots have to conform to 
certain definite rules, are marked “official ballot” and 
have the signatures of the board of election officers on the 
back. 

In addition to the general ballot, there are separate non¬ 
partisan ballots for judges, board of education candidates, 
constitutional amendments, constitutional questions, town 
propositions and town appropriations. In all cases, where 

'40 


there is a choice of candidates of one party for an office 
the names are arranged in alphabetical and rotatory 
order; that is, the name appearing first on the first ballot 
shall become last on the next ballot and the second one 
shall become first and so shall the process be repeated, 
until each name shall have been first. On all ballots in¬ 
structions for voting are printed. 

Voting booths are designed to keep the secrecy of 
the ballot and only one person is allowed at a time in the 
voting booth. The voter gives name and residence to the 
election inspector who verifies it from the registration 
books. He then is given a ballot or ballots, as the case 
may be. After the ballot is marked by the voter he folds 
it and hands it to the inspector in charge of the ballot box. 
If the voter should spoil a ballot he may obtain others, 
but not to exceed three sets. When polls are closed the 
votes are counted in each precinct by the judges and 
clerks in the presence of the watchers from both political 
parties. Voting machines that receive and count the 
votes as they are cast are used in some places. Their use 
lias the advantage of having the full vote counted, when 
the polls close and that no fraud is possible. They are 
not generally adopted because the initial expense is great 
and because they make fewer paid officials necessary. 

The only form of direct government as distinguished 
from representative government that we have in the state 
of Ohio is found in the INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM. 
The INITIATIVE is the power of the people to propose a 
law or amendment to the constitution of the state. The 

signature of three per cent of the electors is required to 
propose a law, which is then presented to the state legis- 

50 


iature. The signatures of ten per cent of the voters is 
required for an amendment to the constitution and this is 
brought before the people at the next general election. 
The REFERENDUM is the power to refer to the people a 
law passed by the state legislature. It requires the signa¬ 
tures of six per cent of the electors and has to be tiled 
within ninety days after the passage of the bill and at 
least sixty days before the election at which it is to be 
voted upon. There are certain types of law specified that 
cannot be referred, these are laws providing for tax levies, 
appropriations for the current expenses of the state gov¬ 
ernment and state institutions, and emergency laws neces¬ 
sary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, 
health and safety. 

“I have no use for the individual who is either ‘too 
busy’ or ‘too good’ to help. He has no just complaint to 
make, whatever takes place. He is riding on another’s 
ticket.” 


51 


HOW THE GOVERNMENT PAYS 

ITS BILLS 


“Every dollar that is spent in any department of govern¬ 
ment comes out of the pockets of the people.” 

The government transacts the business of the people 
and the people must pay the bills. This is done by tax¬ 
ation, which is an established regular contribution by the 
people for services rendered. The people should pay their 
taxes as willingly as they do their rent, coal or grocer’s 
bill. They are more likely to do so, when they under¬ 
stand the need for taxes and feel that they are assessed 
with justice and the funds well administered. The defi¬ 
nite given results are more important than the amount ex¬ 
pended and dissatisfaction arises if results are not in keep¬ 
ing with expenditure. There is cause for alarm only thru 
waste. In other words taxation is justified by benefits 
derived. 

There is no likelihood of taxes diminishing; on the 
contrary with greater social and educational demands 
upon the government taxes will increase. It is impossible 
to measure the benefits of public service to the individual 
and hopeless to measure the cost to each individual. The 
great questions therefore are what should be taxed and 
how shall these taxes be apportioned and levied; what 
system of taxation cannot be evaded, will raise sufficient 
money for expenses, will treat every one with equal 
justice; and what portion should go to the national, to the 
state, and to the local government. 

52 


Taxes may be divided into direct and indirect taxes. 
DIRECT TAXES are those which are imposed upon pro¬ 
perty, upon income and inheritance, and the poll or 
capitation tax, which is a tax on the person. Property 
comprises real property, such as land and buildings and per¬ 
sonal property comprises furniture, money, goods, bonds, 
stocks, jewelry, live-stock, conveyances, farming imple¬ 
ments, etc. INDIRECT TAXES are taxes upon activities 
such as carrying on some business or upon buying, selling, 
manufacturing or importing certain articles. This group in¬ 
cludes corporation franchises, excise or internal revenue 
and licence taxes, custom duties, fees and special assess¬ 
ments. 


The total taxation per year in the United States at pres¬ 
ent is about one twelth of the aggregate annual earnings 
of all persons. 


The first tax to be levied was the property tax. This 
was the most obvious one and at the same time the most 
difficult to evade but the tendency has been steadily from 
taxing property to taxing income; on the principle that 
property is of comparatively little value outside of income 
and does not necessarily indicate ability to pay, while 
income does. 


In regard to taxing income many things have to be 
considered. The first is, should a certain minimum be 
exempt. There are two reasons in favor of a minimum 
exemption, one is that minimum implies, that it is the 
least possible sum upon which to live decently, and the 
other is that the expense of collecting the small sums 
would be very nearly equal to the amount collected. The 
reasons against exemption are, that every citizen should 

53 


be conscious oi‘ contributing to his government and that 
it stimulates his interest in public affairs. 


Other questions are, should taxes be uniform or pro¬ 
gressive, should the source and certainty of income be 
considered. The recent tendency has been away from 
the conservative plan of uniform taxation toward the lat¬ 
ter and more radical one. This consists of a minimum 
exemption with grades according to size of income or in- 
heritance and consideration of the source of income, 
whether it is income from labor and temporary or from 
vested interests and more permanent. 


The authority for raising funds for the federal govern¬ 
ment lies with Congress. About half of the revenue in 
normal times is derived thru custom taxes. Other sources 
of revenue are from excise taxes on articles produced in 
the United States, and since the passage of the 16th Federal 
amendment thru income taxes. The United States in¬ 
come tax of 1916 exempted incomes up to $4,000 of mar¬ 
ried couples and up to $3,000 for unmarried persons. In 
1917 to produce additional war revenue this was de¬ 
creased to $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. Incomes above 
this exemption are classified and at the rate of taxation 
increases with the size. A federal inheritance tax was 
also passed in 1916. This tax is also graduated, the ratio 
being from one per cent on estates of $50,000 to ten per 
cent in estates of $5,000,000. 

1 he need of a budget for the Federal government is 
more and more urgently felt. A budget is a program of 
income and expenditure. ‘ There is now no direct relation 
between the amount proposed to be raised and the amount 
to be spent in any one year. The necessary expenditures 
should be calculated beforehand as closely as possible and 

54 


taxes then levied to supply the necessary funds. Federal 
finance reverses this process; it first provides revenue with¬ 
out any special reference to the needs of the countrv and 
then considers ways of expending the money raised,” with 
the result that different departments get appropriations dis¬ 
proportionate to their relative needs. ‘‘It is like a house¬ 
hold manager, who pays all of her home-keeping money 
for a new rug and hasn’t enough left to pay the ice man.” 
All statesmen agree that it is the only business-like method 
and it is to be hoped that a satisfactory budget bill will soon 
he passed. 

Besides the taxes levied by the national government 
are the taxes levied by the State. Many states have 
adopted the budget system and Ohio is one of these. Ohio 
has a small but permanent source of income thru land 
grants received at various times from the national Gov¬ 
ernment. In 1785 Congress stipulated that one-thirty- 
sixth of all lands in the North-West territory should be 
reserved for the support of the common schools. The 
apportionment for Ohio was 704,488 acres. In addition 
the National Government set aside two townships, one in 
Athens county and the other in Butler county for the sup¬ 
port of two seminaries of learning. Ohio University at 
Athens and Miami University at Oxford were founded as 
a result. Besides these lands one section of every town¬ 
ship was reserved for the support of churches, which is 
known as ministerial lands and comprised 43,525 acres. 
Almost all these lands have been sold, the proceeds paid 
into the state treasury, which yearly pays six per cent 
on them. 

Ohio is the only state in the union that has all its visible 
property on the tax duplicate at practically its market 

55 


value. Ohio has no bonded indebtedness, but its cities and 
other sub-divisions are staggering under a crushing burden 
of debt, which needs the most urgent and scientific atten¬ 
tion, if they are not to face bankruptcy in the near future. 
The first state taxes were levied entirely on land and all 
taxation of personal property was for the support of coun¬ 
ties. Land was divided into three classes. In 1825 the 
classification system of land taxation was abolished and 
the taxation of all property, real and personal was sub¬ 
stituted. Real estate in Ohio in 1918 was appraised at 
about five and one-half billion dollars. This is the work 
of the assessors. These are elected and are not always 
real estate men, which they ought to be. The importance 
of scientific methods instead of guess work in assessing 
property is obvious. Properties exempt from taxation are 
burying grounds, public buildings, church property used 
exclusively for worship and all educational and charitable 
institutions. 

The law of Ohio has never allowed a poll tax. 

In 1893 the first collateral inheritance tax was passed. 
In 1919 a new direct inheritance tax was enacted of which 
the state receives 50% and the local community 50%. 

All state taxes are levied by the general assembly. The 
average tax in 1851 was 1%. In 1910 it had grown to 
3.05%. This caused great dissatisfaction. To remedy con¬ 
ditions the 1 % Smith law was enacted and a general re¬ 
appraisement of property ordered. The reappraisement 
was one of greatly increased valuation, which modified 
the benefits which the Smith law migh have brought about. 
The Smith law limits taxation for all purposes to 1%, with 
the exception of taxes for paying interest on debt and sink- 


56 


ing fund, which may not exceed V 2 %. The total county 
rate may not exceed .03%, the school rate .05%, township 
.02%, municipal .05%. If all these divisions levy the maxi¬ 
mum it will far exceed the amount allowed under the 
Smith law, therefore to adjust these rates a county budget 
commission was created. This consists of the county 
auditor, treasurer and prosecuting attorney. 


In 1919 the general assembly enacted the Gardner law, 
which exempts all bonded indebtedness created before 
January, 1920, from the limitations of the Smith law. Tliis 
raises the tax rate and further modifies the Smith law. It 
also provides that the people vote on all additional tax 
levies. The increase of the debt has been such, that today 
it requires 40 cents out of every dollar of taxes collected to 
meet sinking fund charges. In some districts it requires 
more. 


The government may not raise more revenue from tax¬ 
ation, than is required for its running expenses, therefore 
money cannot be saved for a rainy day or for a special 
project. Such special needs are financed by issuing bonds, 
which are sold to the people, pay a certain per cent of in¬ 
terest and are redeemable at a definite period. To provide 
for the interest and the ultimate redemption a certain 
amount must be set aside annually. This is called a sinking 
fund or funding the debt. Common sense and good busi¬ 
ness dictate that no bonds be issued without such definite 
provisions for payment of interest and ultimate redemption 
and that the life of a bond shall not exceed the period of 
usefulness of the project for which they were issued. The 
first of these provisions was enacted into law in 1912, with 
the natural result of raising the tax rate. 


57 


The outstanding features in the Ohio situation are, that 
under present conditions not enough revenue is raised to 
meet government needs and to pay the debt; and that real 
property yields a larger proportion of revenue than per¬ 
sonal, because it is visible and cannot be evaded, while 
the other is invisible and is evaded. Of the amount of 
deposits in Ohio banks only one-tenth was listed for tax¬ 
ation. Could one reason for this be, that the people do 
not feel that the system is just and equitable? Should a 
new system be introduced by which all properties shall be 
taxed at their earning capacity instead of money value? 
In other words should a $3,000 bond, paying 4% interest, 
be taxed the same as $3,000 invested in a business, that 
pays an interest of 25% or more? Or is the greater risk in 
the business enterprise a proper offset to smaller interest? 

To meet the great debts hanging over our cities without 
raising taxation to prohibitive amounts, to obey the laws 
enacted, and to obey the Constitution of Ohio which says, 
“that the General Assembly shall provide for raising 
revenue, sufficient to defray the expenses of the State for 
each year, and also a sufficient sum to pay interest on the 
state debt” is a difficult problem, which must be faced and 
solved in the near future. 

“Though our eyes may be on a distant goal, our feet 
must be on the ground and progress must he related to 
tested experience.” 


58 


CAN YOU ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS? 

In which congressional district, ward, precinct or town- 
sin p do you live? 

Where is your voting place? 

Who is your Mayor? When does his term expire? 

Who is the Governor of the State? 

Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio? 

Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States? 

Who are your State Senators? 

Who are your Senators in the National Senate? 

Who is your District Repersentative in the House of 
Representative? 

What is the form of government in your town or citv? 

What political party is in the majority in Congress? 

Upon whom do you rely for the purity of your food, 
your water? 

Upon whom do you rely for protection from tire, con¬ 
tagious disease? 

What do you do if your garbage is not collected? 

What do you do if your neighbor’s chimney smokes? 


PREPARE YOURSELF TO VOTE INTELLIGENTLY 

Your public officials are at the public service, and you 
will find them willing to help you. 

“Th# M&hfst political watchword is Servu#.” 


59 





































































































































“Madam, if you want your house well kept, you must 

meddle with politics, because politics has meddled with 
11 

you. 




BUILDING 

INSPECTION 


FOODS S 
MARKETS 

WEIGHTS & 
MEASURES 


MARRIAGE 


iKLICENSE 


\ 


\ 


/ 




\ 


\ 


/ 


\ 


\ 


/ 


/ 


\ 


MILK 

INSPECTION 

BIRTH 

REGISTRATION 

■ ; • ■ • 




HOME 




/ 








! ! \ 


/ / 


/ 


\ 


/ 


/ 


V 


/ 


HEALTH 
DEPARTMENT 


/ 


DEATH 


CERTIFICATE 


SMOKE & ALLEY 
INSPECTION 


Where the government touches the home 


If this book has pleased or helped 
you, will you not tell about it to 
the most appreciative person you 
know? 


Copyright, 1920 






